Variation on "leaky dampers":
Dox wrote:Springs, dampers, and braking components should always be changed in axle pairs. MOT standards should be maintained 365 days a year, not just the day of the test.
MOT standards are quite low. You can, perfectly legitimately, replace a damper, a spring, a brake pad, a disc or even a brake shoe, a brake pipe, a hose, a tyre, calipher, seal, cylinder, bearing, or a ball joint, bush, or whatnot, and still expect your car to pass the MOT test.
Why is it that people thing an MOT picks up anything but the worst excesses?
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Why do you think that the minimum standard is good enough?
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I don't. From my OP:
"Why is it that people thing an MOT picks up anything but the worst excesses?"
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But you encourage people to cut corners on car safety, anyone can read this forum registered or not, you give your view and chummy in his 15 year old car replaces just the parts that did'nt meet the minimum standards for the MOT, a spring, a damper, a brake disc and pads all on the same corner.
Would this car be safe to drive on a wet autumn morning with leaves all over the road? Would you like this driver to be behind you as you executed an emergency stop?
Minimum today is defective tomorrow
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You are still supplying your inaccurate views on my suggestions, and not actually answering the question. Can you do so?
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>>>>>>Leave it until you notice it pogo-ing, or the MOT, IMO, unless you drive like a mad thing. You don't need to fit them in pairs.
>>>>>>>If the damper works properly, it works properly. That's all there is to it. If it leaks, change it. One might change both for the reason that they may perhaps fail at around the same age, but for no other real reason. Quick fitters might say both (or all!) must of course be change, but they've a vested interest (cf. discs with rusty edges).
>>>>>>>>Springs do not usually "wear" (yes, I do know what they actually do).
All your quotes
I know what the mot does, why do you think I can answer for other who don't?
I've replaced dampers that have passed an MOT and they are so poor they're damping nothing.
I make my second hand car purchase safe by replacing suspension and brakes once my new purchase proves relliable, minimum standards are not for me and I allways replace in pairs.
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I refer you, again, to my question. If you *still* can't answer, well, that's all.
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MoT standards are quite high in some areas and precise criteria have to be met (on emissions for example with recent cars, and on the correct adjustment of headlight beams). Any measurable wear in wheel bearings or suspension and steering joints is also likely to be picked up.
The attitude to springs and in particular dampers seems anomalous because, as I and others have pointed out, two dampers identical when manufactured can be very different in performance if one has been on the car for 60,000 miles and the other is brand new, and this is true to a lesser extent of springs too. I imagine the reason for this apparent neglect of primary safety is that proper suspension tests applying the same standards to every car would require too much time and too much equipment to carry out. How much are people willing to pay for an MoT test?
This means that in these areas, in the absence of gross MoT-fail faults, the owner is personally responsible. If FT and others want to creep cautiously around in cars that wouldn't behave consistently if required to turn or stop quickly in bumpy and/or slippery conditions, that is their legal right. But I and one or two other spotty oiks here feel happier in cars that handle more or less symmetrically, as they are supposed to. Takes all sorts.
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There is an mot standard (quite basic in fairness to ft) and there are also construction and use regs.
A pass on an mot does not automatically make a car safe; ie suspension components.
An mot is a benchmark applied to all cars (over 3 years), and is a sensible contribution to making cars on the road meet a minimum standard.
Fitting one caliper, one disk, one set of pads would quite likely fail an mot unless the braking performance was within limits!
If a mot inspector saw 1 leaking shock absorber (or 1 new and 1 old) he would look hard at the other to check that it was up to standard. He might also issue an advisory against it!
So, best practice is to replace items in axle pairs as a minimum safety standard. Advising otherwise is foolish at best; downright dangerous at worst!
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Fitting one caliper one disk one set of pads would quite likely fail an mot unless the braking performance was within limits!
And why would it not be "within limits" (assuming bedded-in materials)?
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So best practice is to replace items in axle pairs as a minimum safety standard. Advising otherwise is foolish at best; downright dangerous at worst!
I think that replacing what needs replacing, which means you've got to actually know something about what you are doing, rather than bone-headedly saying "Replace everything!" is quite acceptable. See other posts on this issue.
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And I think safety on the road is paramount (over cost and aggravation) !
I wonder how many mots you actually see? If you realised the state of cars out there! (new and old !)
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I refer you again to my question. If you *still* can't answer well that's all.
I answered, I can't answer for others, I know the minimum standard of the current MOT is'nt very high, others can answer for themselves.
It says a lot that you quoted me in a new thread to disguise the fact you'd written such rubbish in the original thread
You've not answered any of my questions, so that is all .
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I answered
Nope, sorry. However:
It says a lot that you quoted me in a new thread to disguise the fact you'd written such rubbish in the original thread
It was a new question. That's why. The other thread's still there & active. However, seeing as there's apparently bad feeling involved, EOT.
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!
Edited by yorkiebar on 31/07/2008 at 17:55
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